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Two New Programs Come to SPU's Study Abroad

By Brittany Carlson, Study Abroad Program Assistant

This year, SPU Study Abroad introduces two new programs that take students across the globe for once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunities.

Morocco/SpainOn September 16, SPU students travel overland from Spain to Morocco to study the Arab Spring and learn how people, texts, and ideas circulate and cross national borders in times of historic change.

The program starts in Granada, Spain, where students explore the city, paying particular attention to Granada's Moorish influence, and wander the grounds of Alhambra -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At the end of the first week, students travel overland and across the Strait of Gibraltar by ferry to arrive in Morocco. They spend two weeks in Morocco. In addition to the academic coursework and activities at Meknès (the capital of Morocco), students experience the culture through excursions to Tangier, Fes, Volubilis, Merzouga, Todra Gorge, and Marrakesh. Next on the agenda is a service learning project teaching English to local students in Meknès, during which time they also have the opportunity to learn basic Arabic phrases through weekly language lessons. Students earn 8 upper-division credits after completing this new three-week course (September 1-21), and return to SPU in time to start Autumn Quarter.

University of KentThis autumn, students of all majors have the opportunity to study at the University of Kent, located in Canterbury, England. SPU's new British Isles program begins with an optional pre-session in which students travel for two weeks with one of SPU's own English Department professors. They enjoy a 3-credit travel-writing course and learn about the literature of great travel writers while exploring cities such as London, Stratford-Upon-Avon, and Cambridge.

After the pre-session, students travel to the city of Canterbury, one of the UK's most historic cities. There, at the University of Kent, they join other SPU, international, and British students for a semester of studies in a wide variety of academic disciplines. Students are immersed in British university life -- living and learning alongside British students while participating in university activities and clubs.